Miss South Africa 2014: More Important Details Revealed

"We want the public to get to know the girls long before the pageant night so we've changed the format of the production, tracking the girls' progress through the competition," said Alison McKie, spokesman for pageant owners Sun International.
Former Miss S A Melinda Bam has been appointed national executive of the brand.
''Twelve girls will make it into the final and we'll watch their journey the whole way. The girls will have two months to activate and build their brands and the cameras will follow their every move," said Bam.
''We're going to show everything, the cattiness behind the scenes, the good, the bad, but not the ugly - it's Miss SA, so there's no ugly," she said.Other changes include moving the final from December to March so that the winner can reign in the year she was crowned, and empowering women.
"We'll be pushing health issues, entrepreneurship and presenting scholarships for young girls," said Bam.The final will still take place at Sun City.
''We'll be asking questions that show the girls' real character, their values rather than their views on world peace.
''The idea of being a role model is problematic in South Africa where sports stars and politicians have been put on pedestals and have let us down. We want our ambassadors to have character that transgresses beauty."
Current Miss SA Marilyn Ramos will represent South Africa at the Miss World competition on September 28.
''I'm going to do an African gum boot dance," Ramos said.

FROM: The New Age Online
Sun International on Wednesday announced bold new plans for the Miss South Africa pageant amid fears of it losing its popularity.

The Miss SA title holders told journalists at a conference held in Sandton that the overhaul was necessary because there had been growing questions of its relevance and impact in society, especially among young women aspiring to be successful.

Former winners Bokang Montjane and Melinda Bam teamed up with reigning queen Marilyn Ramos to film a series of video workshops which would be used to inspire possible entrants, give information on the pageant and talk about empowerment. Sun International marketing manager Alison McKie said part of the process was to acknowledge the needs of young women and implement them in the pageant.

“We are going to focus on young girls and look at their wants and needs and incorporate that into the pageant. The Miss SA title is going to foster women empowerment and we really want to put the message across that this isn’t about glamour but a whole lot of work.”

She said that they were launching focus groups to involve young men and women to share ideas.